


Burdens

by McMonty



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Mewvorr (Star Wars), Minor Angst, Odessen (Star Wars), One Shot, Original Character - Freeform, Pets, Romantic Fluff, Seira Zyn, Sensory Overload, Togruta (Star Wars), Very Minor, metalwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22325698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McMonty/pseuds/McMonty
Summary: Everyone needs a break. The Commander, in particular.
Relationships: Female Smuggler/Lana Beniko
Kudos: 14





	Burdens

‘What in blazes are you doing under there?’

‘Shut up, you’re gonna blow my cover!’ Seira ducks back underneath the walkway, disappearing from view.

Lana glances around the war room. Nobody else seems to have noticed that the Commander is hiding. Or if they have, they’ve chosen not to comment on it. Stranger things have happened; this is just another day in the Alliance.

‘And your cover is…?’ Lana leans against the guardrail.

‘Come down here and I might tell you,’ comes the reply.

A smile crosses Lana’s lips before she can stop it. ‘Insufferable…’ she murmurs, but she swings herself over the railing, dropping down onto the rocks. A bit of water splashes over her boots.

Seira sits with her back resting against one of the walkway supports, fiddling with some scrap metal and her pack of tools open on the rock next to her. She’s taken her boots off and has her feet resting in a small puddle. A small purple-skinned mewvorr is curled up on her other side.

‘Hello, Tazi,’ Lana says. The mewvorr lifts his head and chirps at her. As Lana crawls over to Seira, she notices that the metal is being shaped into a krakjya jungle cat. ‘Don’t you have more important things to do?’ Lana asks as she settles next to Seira.

‘Obviously, I am avoiding any and all responsibility.’ Seira doesn’t look up from her work.

‘Obviously.’ Lana’s voice is crisp and dry. ‘Who upset you this time?’ As always, there’s an endless procession of delegates and representatives -- proxies from both the Republic and the Sith Empire, trying to sweet-talk the Commander into coming back to them, as well as agents from individual worlds seeking favours for this or that -- not to mention intelligence and mission reports, acquisitions to complete, council meetings… The Commander has a limited patience for the finer points of diplomacy. Lana takes on as much as she can to ensure that she doesn’t end up throwing someone off of the observation platform.

‘Nobody, I just…’ Seira’s hands still, and she avoids Lana’s gaze. ‘It’s loud. It’s too loud.’ She lifts her hand and rubs her forehead, along the base of her montrals.

‘Ah.’ Suddenly, Lana understands. Togruta are particularly susceptible to sensory overload -- specifically sound. They have montrals, not ears, and so they hear through passive echolocation -- listening to the ambient sounds of their surroundings. As a result, their hearing is keener than that of most other species; this is part of what makes them a great predatory species. The main drawback, however, is that they are much more sensitive to sound; it does not take much to push a Togruta to sensory overload and a meltdown. That explains why she’s taken her boots off, Lana supposes; perhaps the cold water is soothing?

‘Minister Imogh and Ambassador Yane seemed to think that whoever can shout the loudest will win me over.’ Seira picks up a pair of pliers. ‘Hylo’s privateers keep running into trouble with the Nova Blades -- apparently, they didn’t learn their lesson on Dantooine -- so we keep losing supplies. Hylo is pissed, and I can’t blame her for getting pissed with me -- that’s what I’m here for, right?’ She twists two screws together. ‘To be a sounding board for people’s frustrations?’ She squeezes the pliers tighter. ‘And trying to talk Gault out of whatever bantha-brained scheme he comes up with next to raise funds for the Alliance. It was getting too much, I couldn’t stop it and--’ One of the screws snaps under the pliers. A fragment flies off and nicks Seira’s cheek; she drops the krakjya figure and the pliers onto the rocks. ‘Dammit!’ Tazi growls and jumps to his feet. Seira gently strokes his hood with a sigh and he settles down again. 'I-I just... I can't deal right now.' 

Tazi gently bites Lana's hand, an indication of trust. ‘Minister Imogh and Ambassador Yane have been cautioned -- quite sternly, might I add -- by both Theron and Admiral Aygo to keep their discussions civil, otherwise they will be escorted from the base.’ Lana leans over and picks up the figure; apart from its snapped leg screw, it’s undamaged. ‘I’ll speak to Koth and see if we can’t spare some shuttles as escorts for Hylo’s crews. The Nova Blades are scattered again and will run if they start to take too much heat from the Alliance. And as for Gault… Well, I’m sure I can dissuade him.’

That gets a laugh from Seira; a small, amused huff. ‘Please don’t. As much as he… irks me, I would still like to have him in one piece. He does have the occasional good idea.’

‘Well, the offer still stands. You can’t say I didn’t try.’ Lana sniffs haughtily.

A smile appears on her wife’s lips. A proper smile, reaching her eyes. There is just enough light under here for Lana to see Seira’s sharp teeth. ‘Idiot.’

‘Your influence, I’m sure.’ Lana places her fingers under Seira’s chin and gently forces her to look towards her. There’s a small bead of blood on her cheek. Lana wipes it away with her thumb.

‘Ow.’ Clearly, the scratch stings. ‘That hurts.’

‘Infant. I’ve seen you take far worse than this and not even bat an eyelid.’

‘Still, ow.’ She’s pouting, but her eyes are teasing.

‘Still, idiot.’ Lana kisses her, softly, a gentle peck on the lips, and rests her forehead against Seira’s. 

The Commander moves her head so that it’s resting on Lana’s shoulder. It took them a little while to figure out how to do this without Seira nearly taking out Lana’s eye, but they got there. Lana plays with the tip of one of Seira’s lekku, gently massaging it between her fingers. Slowly, she works her way up, her fingers finding their way to the top of the lekku where it joins the montral.

Seira jumps as soon as she touches the area. ‘Oh, don’t,’ she giggles. 

‘You should never have clued me in on that tidbit,’ Lana teases. Very few people know that that is an extremely ticklish spot for Togruta.

‘Stars’ end, I’ve created a monster.’ Seira is laughing again.

‘Without a doubt,’ Lana says, pulling Seira close to her again.


End file.
